Love is a Bang
by The-Reject-Crayon
Summary: A Deidara fanfic that shows a bit of his past and his softer side. Second chapter up.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm telling you, true art only lasts a fleeting moment, a flash before it disappears. But that's what makes it so beautiful." came the voice of a young man.

"No, art is something that lasts, something that can be admired by all for a long time!" argued back the voice of a young woman.

The blonde-haired man shook his head. How foolish she was being. "We're never going to agree on this, are we?" he asked.

The brown-haired woman shook her head. "I seems that way."

"Then you can stick to your painting and I'll stick to my clay, hm." Deidara responded, absentmindedly working some in his hand.

The woman sighed. "Agreed. But Deidara, I hope something silly like this won't damage our relationship." she spoke, softer this time.

A troubled look crossed Deidara's face, and he took a step towards her. Taking her face gently in his free hand, he stared into her chocolate eyes.

"Kaori, you know it won't." he said, just as softly. As the woman closed her eyes, Deidara suddenly smiled and touched her nose. She then opened her eyes.

"Women are so sensitive, getting worked up over something like this." he said, taking a step away from her. Kaori gave a snort and turned away from him, back to her painting.

As Deidara went back to playing with his clay, creating something, destroying it, then creating something new, a silence grew between them.

The room they were in was small, and cluttered with old paints, plastic containers of clay, finished and unfinished paintings, and scattered paintbrushes. To anyone walking in, they might think that they were walking into some kind of artist paradise.

All was quiet for several minutes. As time passes, an uneasy look grew on the woman's face, and she finally turned around to face the blonde.

"Deidara, I-"

Without warning, a huge dog bound into the room, ignoring everything in its path and knocking over everything it touched. It headed strait for Deidara, whose eyes widened, and jumped right on top of him.

"Damn mutt! Get it _off_ of me!" he yelled, trying and failing to push it off. The dog lay on top of him, licking the man's face and wagging its tail, thus knocking even more art supplies off of their unorganized shelves.

The woman stood up. "Taro! Bad dog! Get off of him!" she cried tripping over fallen objects to pull the beast off of Deidara, who quickly scrambled out of the way. The dog strained against Kaori's clutches, but soon gave up and sat down, still wagging its tail.

"Crazy dog! Does it _have_ to attack me every single time I come over here, hm?" Deidara exclaimed, wiping dog slobber off of his face with a disgusted look on his face.

Kaori sighed. "He just likes you." she said, pulling the dog out of the room and locking him outside.

Deidara stood up unsteadily, remnants of dog spit still on his face. "Yeah, well, I wish he wouldn't like me so much. Really, he doesn't act like this for anyone else. Next time he does that, I'm going to strap him to one of my fireworks or something." he said, attempting one last time to clean off his face. "So, what were you saying?" he asked, turning to the girl.

Kaori blinked, then turned away from him. "N-nothing." She said.

Deidara stared at her, and shrugged. "Whatever. I'd better get going." he said, picking up his ball of clay that he had dropped and putting in a larger tub of clay. "I'll be back tomorrow."

As he turned to leave, Kaori grabbed his arm. Turning back to look at her with a confused look on his face, Deidara blinked.

"You're going on a mission tomorrow, aren't you?" she asked, lowering her eyes.

Deidara nodded. "Yeah. What's wrong about that?"

"Well… Our country is at war… Even the easiest of missions could turn out deadly… I guess I-I'm just asking you… to be careful, okay?" she finished, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Deidara chuckled, to her immediate annoyance. "Silly. We may be at war, but I can take care of myself, hm. It's you I worry about. Don't worry, I'll be fine. See you in a few days!" he said cheerfully, freed from her grasp, and walked quickly out of the door.

Kaori stared after him, then turned to look at her empty hands. For a while now, she had begun to realize just how attached she was to the young, blue eyed boy. Shaking her head to rid her mind of thoughts of him, she turned back to her painting and submerged herself back into her own world of paint and gentle brush strokes.


	2. Chapter 2

How long has it been since I put up the first chapter? Forever ago? Well, anyway, I've finally put up the second. Sorry about the wait, to anyone who actually reads this. I want to try and finish this, actually, sometime soon. It won't be a very long story.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

* * *

Bright fireworks of all colors flashed through the skies above the Village Hidden in the Rocks, illuminating the happy faced of its villagers. Two figures stood apart from the rest; one lighting the fireworks and the other standing a short distance away, watching.

After lighting another firework, Deidara took at step back and stared at it until it whistled, soaring into the sky and exploding in a variety of colors.

Deidara sighed contently, staring up. "That, that is true art. That single moment as it explodes… It's so beautiful. Art is… Art is a bang." he said slowly.

Kaori gave him a strange look. "It is beautiful, and I guess you can consider it art, but it only lasts for a moment. You can't enjoy it if you're not there the moment right before it disappears."

Deidara shrugged. "That's too bad then, hm."

Kaori was silent for a long time, and stared up at the cloudless sky filled with Deidara's fireworks. Breathing in the fresh smell of the night air, she eventually spoke.

"Deidara…" she started off softly, too softly for him to hear. She sighed, and spoke louder. "Deidara?"

This time he heard. "Hm? What is it?"

Kaori lowered her head. "You're not going to leave, are you?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Deidara cocked his head in confusion, and took a step towards her. "What's this, all of a sudden?" he asked.

Kaori sighed. "It's just… You've been going on more and more missions lately. I worry about you… What would I do if you never came back?"

Deidara rolled his eyes, though Kaori didn't see. "Why would I not come back? I can take care of myself better than you think." he said, and suddenly turned serious. "It's you that I worry about." he said.

Kaori's gaze was cold. "You're not the only one who can take care of themselves."

Deidara sighed. "Kaori…" he started.

"I'm going home. I'll see you in a week or so. I've got a mission tomorrow." Kaori said quickly, and before Deidara would say anything else to her, she was gone.

Great. He'd screwed up again. If there was one thing he couldn't understand, it was probably Kaori's attitude and sudden mood swings.

But she wasn't the only thing that was bothering him lately, he thought, as he stared down at his gloved hands. Even in the darkness of the night, with the occasional flash of a bright firework, he could almost see the thing that had been causing him worry, even pain.

Something he didn't want. A parent's blood that carried this thing to him. Was it a curse?

The village heads thought of it as a gift. Not for him, but for them. For their warring purposes. Just as they had for his parent who had also possessed it…

He had never told her, had he? Kaori. What he possessed. And he dared not think about what she might do if she knew. If anyone knew. He was a cursed being… Meant only for war. That was how they wanted him to live. For the sake of the village and nothing else.

A memory flashed through his mind like one of the fireworks in the sky.

* * *

_Him. A small child. A flash in the distance. What could it be?_

_People were running away. Allies and enemies alike. They were still out there. His parents. Out there in that huge explosion. They would be fine, right?_

_Someone lead him to the village leaders. They stared at him with cold eyes. He was frightened. Mother, father? Where are you?_

_One man reached out and grabbed his arm. It hurt. He ripped off the dirt covered glove that covered his hand._

_No. Mother and father said people must not look at it. Must not see. The small, blonde child struggled in vain._

_But they had seen. They stared at him as though he were an object, not even a living being. He was scared. _

_Mother? Father?_

_They're not coming back, one said._

_No, that can't be true. They said they would. The promised._

_Keep this hidden, said another, staring at the mouth on his hand. _

_You belong to us now._

* * *

Deidara shook his head. He must not think of those things.

After all, it was all a distant memory now.

He belonged to the village now.


End file.
